


Headed Vaguely Eastward, Sun In My Eyes

by annemari



Category: Doctor Who RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 19:38:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/601357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annemari/pseuds/annemari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karen's been living in NYC for almost a month now. It's been nice, but not really as fun as she'd hoped it would be. Then she meets Matt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Headed Vaguely Eastward, Sun In My Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Grevling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grevling/gifts).



> Thanks so much to my last minute beta! <333 Title yanked from a song by The Mountain Goats.
> 
> I hope you like this, Grevling! Happy Yuletide!

Karen sighs and adjusts her bag. This is the last time she's leaving stuff to the very last minute. Not just looking for presents, _anything_. No more last minute rushing. Next time she needs to get a gift for a co-worker that she barely knows, she'll just buy something random and cute weeks early—oh, but then she'd probably just forget about it. Bugger.

There's another rumbling of thunder, and Karen curses and quickens her pace. A few more feet and it starts raining hard. She rushes through the next door she spots and finds herself in a bookstore. It's perfect. She'll just find Mary a book and she'll be set.

The bookstore is small and looks empty at first glance. Karen shrugs to herself, runs her hand through her hair and starts browsing. She doesn't really want to get Mary something too expensive, but she doesn't want it to be a cheap gift either. She also doesn't know what kind of books Mary is into, which kind of sucks, but hey—who can say no to a book as a gift, right? It's not always Karen's first choice, but there's something thoughtful about being given a book. (Even when you're buying it an hour before the party starts.)

Karen disregards the first section—New Books—because, uh, yeah, most of them are too expensive for her current budget. She walks past the classics and young adult section, because she's not sure whether Mary would go for either. It's at the fantasy section where she almost literally stumbles upon another person.

The guy lets out a little squawk and stands up. Karen widens her eyes. "Sorry, you startled me," the guy says. He has an English accent, and an interesting face framed by dark hair.

"Oh, sorry," Karen says. "Uh, I'm looking for a present?" She hopes she's right in assuming that he works here, but well, if it's not this guy then there _is_ no one working here.

"Yeah?" the guy says. "Oh. Oh, yeah! Um, anything specific?"

Karen shrugs. "Nope."

The guy cracks a hesitant smile. "Well, what kind of books do they like?"

Karen tilts her head. "Yeah, I don't know? I mean, I don't know them that well, so." She shrugs again. "I'm kind of in a hurry, though, so, um, something fun? Oh, and not too expensive." She winces at herself, but the guy just nods and turns around abruptly. Then he turns around again.

"Sorry," he says. "Uh, this way." He brushes past Karen. Karen leans closer to the bookcase to let him by and raises her eyebrows, then follows.

"This is the gift books section," the guy says. "How about this?" He holds up a joke book. It looks nice, and not too expensive. "It's actually pretty boring, I mean, it's not something _I_ would get for someone, but—"

Karen waves him off. "It'll do."

The guy blinks at her. "Okay. Uh, this way." He leads her to the counter and and rings up her order. "It was a present, right?" he says. "Shall I wrap it?"

Karen wrinkles her nose. "Do you sell gift bags?"

"Uh, I think so." The guy crouches down behind the counter. 

Karen leans on the counter, and looks around. "Do you work here on your own?"

The guy pops up and Karen pulls back, a little startled.

"No, just—the evening hasn't been really busy, so the other employees left."

"Oh," Karen says. "So you own it?"

"No," the guy says. Karen searches for a name tag, but there is none. "I'm friends with the boss, though."

Karen nods. "Cool. It's a nice place. So, uh, did you find a gift bag?"

"Oh, yeah," the guy says and holds up two bags. "Red or orange."

"Orange."

The guy adds it to the order and rattles off the price. Karen pays, thanks him and turns to leave, bag and book in hand when the guy says, "Is it raining?"

Karen shrugs. "Yeah, a storm."

The guy gets out behind the counter and follows her to the door. Together they peek through the window next to the door. It looks pretty bad outside, but if Karen doesn't leave now she's going to be late. "Maybe you should call a cab," the guy suggests.

"Any chance you sell umbrellas?" Karen asks. The guy shakes his head. He looks pretty concerned. It's cute.

Karen shoves the book and gift bag into her purse, probably wrinkling them both. She takes another look outside and assesses the situation. It's not really the first time she's been caught without an umbrella in a rainstorm. She's not exactly interested in arriving at the party soaked from head to toe, but the cab would be too expensive.

"Hey," she says, and squints. "I think it's letting up."

The guy tilts his head. "You think so."

"Yeah." Karen grins at him and pulls the door open. "Thanks again." She steps out of the store and into the wet New York streets, feeling light. She found a present, she met a cute guy, and it stopped raining. The night is looking up.

~

Karen's heading to a Starbucks she found close to her work for a quick smoothie when she rounds a corner and bumps right into someone. She quickly jumps back, then pauses when she sees who it is.

"Hey," Karen says. "Dude from the bookstore."

The guy smiles. "That's me." He offers her his hand and Karen takes it. "Matt."

"I'm Karen," she says.

"Karen," Matt repeats and lets go of her hand. "Cool." Karen raises her eyebrows, and Matt laughs and looks down. "Um. Oh, were you heading to the store?" He looks at the door behind him, and Karen realises that it's his bookstore.

"No," Karen says. "Starbucks."

"Me too," Matt says, and waves his hand in the general direction of the Starbucks.

Karen grins. "Wanna join me?"

Matt smiles and follows her. They end up settling in the corner of the store after ordering. Karen sips on her strawberry smoothie, and Matt raises his eyebrows and grins.

"So, are you new here?" Matt asks.

"That easy to tell?"

Matt shrugs. "Just a guess. I mean, I _know_ you're not from here..."

Karen wrinkles her nose. "I moved here a bit more than a month ago."

"See," Matt says, and wags his finger at her. "I could tell."

"Yeah, right," Karen says.

"Nice Scottish accent."

Karen laughs. "Uh, _thanks_."

"It's a compliment!" Matt says.

Karen nods. "Uh-huh."

"It is," Matt assures her. "Shall I try a better one?"

Karen narrows her eyes and Matt laughs. "Too much pressure?" Karen asks after he doesn't say anything, amused.

Matt covers his face with his hands. "Maybe."

"Or can you just not find anything nice to say?" Karen tilts her head and purses her lips.

Matt laughs again, and Karen smiles and shakes her head. 

"So how long have _you_ been here?"

"Oh, a couple of months," Matt says. "Not long." Karen rolls her eyes. "Longer than you!" Matt says.

"Yeah, whatever," Karen says. Matt snorts. "So what do you do?"

"I'm trying to get into acting," Matt says. "And I'm writing in the meantime."

"Cool," Karen says. "Cool, cool, cool."

Matt laughs. "Is that a _Community_ reference?"

Karen shrugs. "I love that show. So what kind of acting do you do?"

They pass almost an hour, just talking about favourite TV shows, music, and the differences between life here and where they used to live—both in London, it turns out. Matt's really fun, and weird, and Karen finds him pretty charming.

"Hey, so," Matt says as they're both leaving. "What's your email?"

Karen grins and gives it to him.

~

Karen stares at the draft of the email. She clicks out of the tab to check her twitter again, then clicks back. The draft doesn't sound any better.

_Hey Matt!_

_This is really random, but the online magazine I work with wants me to take pictures of street fashion and I was wondering if you want to help me?_

_Karen_

Karen makes a face at the screen, then hits "Send". Whatever. She gets up and goes to the kitchen to get more coffee. She hits her toe against a chair because she's too lazy to turn on the light, and curses quietly. Both her roommates are probably asleep already, it's, like, three in the morning. Karen's been in New York for almost two months now, but her sleeping schedule is still weirdly messed up.

She sighs and leans against the kitchen counter and watches the coffee maker work. She likes both her roommates, but this place doesn't really feel like _hers_ , yet. Neither does her job, really. She came to NYC to—to "find herself", her mother called it. It wasn't exactly that, though. She was just tired of London, bored with it, and the magazine was looking to transfer someone—for a smaller pay—and she took the chance.

Even though she's not sure about her place or the job, she's at least liking New York. She wonders whether that will last when the heatwave passes and fall rolls around, but it probably won't be that different from London. Maybe it'd be better if it was, maybe she should have moved to Los Angeles instead.

She takes a deep breath and fills her cup, heads back to her room. She settles down in her chair, and blinks at the screen. Matt has emailed her back. Karen opens the message, and smiles.

~

They agree to meet up in Central Park, and Matt starts immediately teasing her when Karen gets there.

"You haven't been around the city at all, have you?" Matt asks.

"I've been around!" Karen pouts. "I found your bookstore, didn't I?"

Matt grins. "A coincidence. And not my point, _you_ are trying to find street fashion in Central Park."

Karen narrows her eyes. "Fine, we can go somewhere else. But mostly I was just planning on taking pictures of you."

Matt widens his eyes. "Me?"

Karen shrugs. "You dress weird." Matt opens his mouth, then closes it. He looks down, and Karen could _swear_ he's blushing, the fool. "We can go somewhere else, if you think it'd be better," Karen says. "Or, I don't know, how much time do you have?"

Matt shakes his head. "Nah, this is fun. Um, do I just pose for you?"

Karen smiles and takes out her camera. "Yeah," she says, and points the camera at Matt. He's wearing tight jeans, a strange sweater with a pattern Karen can't make out, and a hat. Matt pulls a face.

Karen laughs. "Look presentable, okay."

"Presentable?" Matt asks.

"Just—" Karen lowers the camera. "Just—maybe look to the side or something. Or at the ground."

Matt sticks his hands in his pockets and looks down. He's lanky, all lines, and the clothes he's wearing really work for him. Karen snaps a couple of pictures, then lowers the camera again.

"Let's find another spot?"

Matt follows her to another area—they stop by some fountains and Karen takes some shots of them before turning back to Matt and angling him so the light hits him just right. She zooms in and focuses on the details of Matt's outfit, then takes a couple of close-ups of his face, too. She's really having fun with this.

Karen's phone beeps and she hands the camera to Matt to fish the phone out of her bag. She sends a text back to her friend, and looks up to find Matt taking pictures of her. Karen cocks her hip and tilts her head. Matt laughs.

"Good, that's a really good pose," Matt says.

Karen rolls her eyes and laughs, and reaches out. "Give me back my camera."

"Nah," Matt says. "I'm liking this. Look, is that a squirrel?"

Karen turns automatically, even though she's seen plenty of squirrels in the parks back home. "Aww, it's so cute!" She looks through her bag again, but she doesn't have any food or anything. She still crouches down at a slight distance from the squirrel, to take a better look at it. It's adorable. She reaches for her camera, but shoot, she left it with Matt.

Karen glances up and looks at Matt, who has gone back to taking pictures of her. Karen grins and turns away, hides her face behind her hair. Her stomach feels tight, but in a good way. She stands up and goes to steal her camera back. Matt fights her for it at first, but relinquishes it when Karen pinches his side.

"Ow," Matt says, and pouts at her. Karen thinks that she could kiss him. She bites her lip and pulls back.

"Come on," she says, smiling. "Let's go find another spot."

~

They take the subway together afterwards; it's crowded enough that Karen ends up pressed against Matt's side. It's a bit awkward at first, but when the train comes to a sudden stop Matt throws his arm around Karen's waist to keep balance, and it's really—nice. Karen smiles and leans closer and Matt leans down to whisper in her ear, "Fucking tourists."

Karen laughs. "You've barely spent two months here and already you're complaining about tourists."

"It's how you know you've become a New Yorker, right?" Matt says. "I've made it."

Karen grins. "Sure."

Karen's stop is before Matt's, she leans up to press a kiss to his cheek as a goodbye and thank you. Matt tightens his hand on Karen's waist before letting go.

Karen settles into bed with her laptop as soon as she gets home. She transfers the pictures they took today and sends off a quick email to her boss. Then she pulls her feet under herself and starts looking through the pictures. The ones of Matt came out well, she's sure she can use some of them for work. There are a few where Matt is making faces at her, and she can't help but smile at the screen.

The pictures Matt took of _her_ are great, too. She pulls the computer closer and admires the way he captured her and the squirrel, her looking down at her phone and squinting at him, laughing. She puts the laptop down and pulls her legs up, hides her face against her knees, grinning.

Fuck, she likes him. She looks back at the laptop and scrolls to a picture of him smiling at the camera, and does a little shimmy with her shoulders. New York is shaping up to be pretty awesome.

~

Matt calls her up next week and asks, "Have you been to the Central Park Zoo?"

They meet up in front of the zoo early on a Thursday morning. Karen yawns and clutches her coffee cup. "Did we have to get here as soon as it opens?"

"I told you," Matt says. "We're beating the, uh, rush hour."

Karen raises her eyebrows. "The zoo rush hour?"

"Yes," Matt says. "Now come on." He takes her elbow and pulls her with him. Karen smiles to herself and falls in step.

The zoo is fun, even though it's small. It's cosy, and not too crowded this early in the morning. Matt falls in love with the penguins, and Karen takes a lot of pictures of him making silly faces at them. They're just in time to see the penguins being fed; Matt keeps grinning at her. It's adorable.

They later stop by the red pandas and snow monkeys. It's hard to get good shots of the pandas, but Karen keeps trying. Matt nudges her elbow and Karen grumbles.

"Come on, Kaz," Matt says. Karen's not sure how or when he came up with the nickname, but she likes it. "Get a picture of that monkey."

Karen rolls her eyes. "Monkeys are boring."

Matt gasps. "Oh no, you did not just call monkeys _boring_."

Karen lowers the camera and narrows her eyes at him. "They're so common. Every zoo has monkeys."

"Because they're fun!" Matt says. "Because everyone loves monkeys. And you know, most zoos have red pandas, too."

Karen rolls her eyes again. "Whatever. Red pandas are cuter, okay."

"You're cuter than red pandas," Matt blurts out. Karen raises her eyebrows. "I'm trying for better compliments," Matt says. "It works. You're both ginger."

Karen laughs. "Okay." She brushes her hair back.

Matt points a finger at her. "But _you_ are cuter."

Karen smiles at him, and looks at the camera in her hands. "I still think you need more practice. But that was pretty good."

Matt laughs and turns to face the exhibition again. "Kaz, look, look, that one!"

Karen quickly lifts her camera and points it where Matt's directing her. She snaps a couple of pictures before the panda disappears behind the leaves again. She checks the pictures in her camera and does a little dance.

Matt grins at her. "Good shots?"

"Pretty good," Karen says, and laughs. Matt reaches for her hand, and pulls her in. Karen leans up and kisses him.

He settles her hands on her waist, weirdly chaste, and it makes Karen feel warm inside. She buries her free hand in his hair and pulls him even closer, angles them just right. Matt's an excellent kisser, and he's _fun_ , and Karen loves spending time with him.

She breaks the kiss and pulls back to grin at him. The corners of Matt's eyes crinkle when he smiles. Karen tilts her head and purses her lips. A monkey coos in the distance.

Matt breaks out laughing, and Karen pouts. "I hate monkeys."

Matt leans in for another kiss. Karen pulls on his hair and deepens the kiss, pushes her tongue in Matt's mouth, teasing. Matt wraps his arms around her, and Karen feels warm.

~

Karen pushes through the door of the bookstore and walks up to the counter. "Hey, Arthur. Matt ready?"

Matt's boss smiles at her, and inclines his head toward the back of the room. "He's in the back." He takes in her outfit—a short black dress with a dark coat thrown over it. "You going out?"

"Dancing," Karen says. Arthur rises his eyebrows. Karen laughs. "It's a work thing, I'm dragging him with me."

Arthur nods. "Good luck with that."

Karen grins. "Thanks." Matt comes rushing out to the front of the store, successfully dodging some customers. He's wearing black pants, a white shirt and dark vest. He's smiling. Karen gives him a kiss on the cheek, waves to Arthur, and pulls Matt out the door.

It turns out that Matt _is_ a terrible dancer. Karen might have suspected it, but seeing it confirmed is both hilarious and horribly endearing. She watches Matt try out various different moves, most that come down to just moving his hips in a shimmy while doing weird things with his face.

They stumble out of the club later, both vaguely tipsy. Karen wraps her arms around his waist and Matt throws his arm over her shoulder and holds her tight. "You know I really like you, right?" Karen asks, and looks up at him.

Matt grins at her and presses a kiss to her forehead. "I know, Kaz."

Karen laughs, happy, and pulls him down for a kiss.


End file.
